"It never occurred to me that it would turn into some perverted thing," Huether said. "Anyone who knows me knows the memorial is not something I take lightly."

His counterpart in the group, City Councilman Alfredo Pedroza, also said there was no double meaning. He said the flier was an attempt to attract potential donors to a July 2 event and he "didn't scrutinize each word."

"For folks that interpreted it differently, that was not my intention," he said.

But one member of the group acknowledged in the editorial a deliberate attempt at tongue-in-cheek humor. Civil engineer Ryan Gregory was quoted as saying it was "kitschy" and an "attention-grabber."

Gregory didn't return calls Thursday seeking comment.

Others who read the flier had mixed opinions about whether it was offensive or inappropriate for a memorial about people killed on Sept. 11.

Steve Countouriotis of Petaluma, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who visited Ground Zero for the first anniversary of the attacks, called the flier "immature, juvenile and senseless."

"It was school-boy humor," said Countouriotis, who served combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. "And for that guy to say people misinterpreted him ... I don't think he's sincere."

Santa Rosa political consultant Herb Williams, whose son was killed in the war in Iraq, called it a "very unfortunate media error."

However, he didn't believe it was intentional.

"It was a stupid error," he said in an email. "It should have read 'Erecting Napa's 30-Ton Memorial.'"

Another Santa Rosa resident, attorney Anne Dennis, whose brother Thomas Dennis died in the World Trade Center towers' collapse, was more light-hearted about it.

"I don't find that offensive," she said while looking at the flier online. "It's probably not the most politick choice of phrasing. I can say my brother would have found it funny."

The newspaper editorial disagreed, calling the flier a "major step backward" in the three-year-long project, which is slated for completion Sept. 11.

You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com.